Public transport in Munich: types, fares, ticketing, route schedules and timetables

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

The transport system of the German city of Munich is an extensive and fairly developed network of various modes of transport. This includes the metro, and the city electric train (similar to Russian electric trains), and buses with trams, and, of course, the usual taxis.

The city does not suffer from a lack of public transport. If a tourist needs to get to the hotel, then both budget options and slightly more expensive ones will be at hand.

In addition, with the help of public transport you can easily get to all the necessary places, cafes, restaurants, shopping centers and attractions located even in the regional territories of Munich.

General information

Everyone is probably familiar with the jokes about German clarity, so this also applies to public transport in Munich. Absolutely all of its types have their own schedule, which is most often marked at stops, including metro stations. The route of the necessary bus or tram is also drawn there. The subway is additionally endowed with an interactive scoreboard, where the time remaining before the arrival of the train is written.

All information about public transport in Munich is located on the official website, which is called very simply and concisely - "Munich Transport and Tariff Union". Using the available lists of all buses, you can create your own route and safely go on a trip around the central city of Bavaria.

Metro

The subway (U-Bahn) is usually recognized as the most convenient transport around the world. For Munich, public transport in the form of high-speed trains moving underground is perhaps the most comfortable. No traffic jams and subsequent lateness to meetings or important negotiations.

Today, there are about a hundred stations covering all urban areas. The network itself leads from any end of Munich to its center. The metro system is very different from the Russian one, since there can be several trains on the same line, of different colors, and each with its own numbering (for example, U1), so before sending, you should check the map exactly and make sure the number of the selected line is correct.

Metro operates from 4am to 1am, on weekends until 2pm.

To the great happiness of all those who have a psychological trauma of childhood because of the frenzied Moscow turnstiles, there are none underground in Munich transport. No one checks the ticket when boarding, but it is necessary to buy and beat it off on your own using a special device. If athe controller, already on the way, discovers that the passenger does not have a ticket, then he will write out an inevitable fine of forty euros.

Train train

Don't be surprised, but public transport in Munich is also represented by electric trains. They are called S-Bahn. Finding them is very simple - you need to go down again to any underground station located in the central part of the city. There are two signs inside - one for the U-Bahn and the other for the S-Bahn. But how is it different from regular subway trains?

S-Bahn is indeed a real train with ten lines, it just goes underground to the center and thus connects with the metro station, along which lines move, for example, from S1 to S7. Only, unlike subway trains, with the help of an electric train, you can get out of the city border, and even get to one of the airports using the S1 lines; S8.

Bus

The next form of public transport in Munich is the bus. This is a fairly convenient means of transportation through the city streets, but a huge plus is the presence of twelve night routes. After all, tourists do not always want to return to the hotel before midnight.

In addition, there are sixty-five routes operating during the daytime. They are divided into three types:

• All lines from 50 to 60, as well as 62 and 63 are given to Metrobus. These lines connect the most popular urban transport hubs in Munich, large hypermarkets, shopping centers and urban areas.
• All route lines from 130th to 159th belong toregular city bus, which is called the Stad bus. Moreover, buses running along routes 130-159 completely capture the central part and the southern urban region. Lines 160-169 run only in the south of Munich. 170-179 run throughout the northern part. The northeast is occupied by lines 180-189 and the southeast is stuffed with routes 190-199. Route No. 100, passing by twenty-four museums, is very popular among the guests of the city. It is even unofficially called the "museum line".
• All special night routes are marked with Taxi bus. They start their work at 11 o'clock in the evening and finish at 6 o'clock in the morning. You should carefully study their route map on the official website of the Munich transport.

Tram

But whoever wants to ride on the oldest urban transport in Munich, tram tickets are already waiting for him. Yes, it is the tram rails that belong to the very first public transport of the Bavarian town.

The tram was first launched in 1876 and today there are two types of routes - night and day, however, like its fellow bus.

11 daily routes are represented by lines: 12, 15 to 21, 23, 25, 27 and 28.

Four night trams - 16, 19, 20, 27. A huge plus is that the daytime tram leaves the depot at 4:30 in the morning and returns to the night parking lot at 1:30. Accordingly, night horned buses come into play during this break.

Taxi

But not for everyone in Munich travel totransport is a convenient option, so for more selective persons, as in any other city in the world, taxis are offered. They are punctual with German pedantry and quite comfortable. Boarding begins with a price tag of four euros, and then the passenger pays for the mileage already driven.

For example, with a route of ten or more kilometers, the price per kilometer will be one euro and twenty-five cents. One hour of waiting will cost twenty-three euros or more. There is also a popular carrier "Kiwi Taxi" in the city, offering fixed prices to the airport or another city.

Munich public transport map

Absolutely all schemes and maps regarding Munich public transport can be found on the official website. There are detailed routes for all lines of the bus, tram, train, metro and night options.

Given that the subway and train, nevertheless, are the most convenient for all possible movements, it would be more useful to download S-Bahn and U-Bahn cards in the required format to your smartphone.

Munich public transport fares are marked in different colors on the maps. So, for example, white color indicates the inner zone, where most of the iconic attractions are located. Accordingly, to travel on it you should buy a special ticket. It will operate throughout the zone marked in white. This will be discussed below.

Tariff zonescities

For someone visiting Munich for the first time, this arrangement of the transport system may seem too complicated, all due to the fact that the price of a trip depends on the distance, and not on the mode of transport.

That is, having bought a ticket in the subway, you can use it both on the bus and on the tram. Thus, tickets for public transport in Munich are the same, as are the fare zones for them.

So, let's take a closer look at the color differences in the existing tariff zones. There are four in total:

• Already mentioned white or inner, on the map will be marked as Innerratum. In addition to the central area, it includes the main city attractions, including the Olympic Park and the BMW Museum
• Munich XXL or the union of the white and green zones.
• The outer zone is combined in green, yellow and red, it can be found on the map under the name Ausserraum.
• And finally, the last option is the combined zone of all of the above - Gesamtnetz. A ticket of this fare zone will be needed for a person who will go to the airport.

Ticket for one person

Since tickets for public transport in Munich can be used on absolutely all types of vehicles around the city, you just need to decide on the zone in which a person will move. Once again, it is worth mentioning that, having a single ticket, you can freely change the type of transport within the zone for which it was paid.

What types of tickets are there and what is theirprice? Tickets sold zonally are called Einzelfahrt. For the inner zone, their expiration date is three hours, for the rest of the zones - four. Their prices vary:

• One zone - 2, 90 euros.
• Two zones - 5, 80 euros.
• Three zones - 8, 70 euros.
• Four zones - 11, 60 euros
• A short trip costs one euro 50 cents. This ticket is valid for an hour and applies to only one zone, which is why it is called "short". It can be used on the subway or train if the trip is two stops and on the tram or bus if the trip is up to four stops.

If there is a child from 6 to 14 years old, the cost is 1.50 euros, regardless of which type of ticket was chosen. Accordingly, children under six years of age use transport for free.

Among public transport tickets in Munich there is such an interesting tool as stripes. They are called Streifenkarte.

The cost of 10 ticket strips is equal to thirteen euros and fifty cents, that is, one strip costs fifty euros. One can be used in the 1st zone for sixty minutes.

When traveling longer than one hour, a person uses two strips. If he needs to pass through two zones, then he uses four pieces, three - six, and all four zones - eight.

People between the ages of 15 and 20 are eligible to use one strip per zone with no time limit.

For a tourist who came to Munich for a few days, more thanIt will be advantageous to purchase a ticket without restrictions. That is, no movement limit. They come in several types, as always, everything depends on the number of zones and duration:

• Day in the white zone Single-Tageskarte Innenraum - 6, 70 euros.
• Three days in the white zone Single-Tageskarte Innenraum - 16, 80 euros.
• One day in the white and green zones Single-Tageskarte München XXL - 8, 90 euros.
• One day in the green, yellow and red zones Außenraum - 6, 70 euros.
• One day in four zones Single-Tageskarte Gesamtnetz - 13 euros.

Children's day ticket is called - Die Kinder-Tageskarte. It applies to children from six to fourteen years old on all available urban transport zones and costs 3.20 euros.

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the travel card is valid not for a day, as people used to count from midnight, but from the moment it is "punched" in the payment terminal until six in the morning of the next day. When purchasing a ticket on a bus or tram, the date and time will be automatically stamped on it.

Group Pass & Airport Ticket

Often people come to Germany to relax with whole families or tourist groups of "savages", without the participation of a tour guide. In this case, it is more profitable to purchase a ticket for public transport as a whole group, if everyone adheres to the same travel plan. In Munich, there are Gruppen-Tageskarte group travel cards. They are valid for five adults or ten children (2 toddlers go for one older person).age).

The cost depends on the number of coverage areas and the duration of the ticket:

• Daily allowance for the white zone Innenraum - 12, 80 euros.
• Three-day white zone Innenraum - 29, 60 euros.
• Daily allowance for white and green zones München XXL - 16, 10 euros.
• Three-day Außenraum green, yellow and red zones - 12.80 euros.
• Daily allowance for four Gesamtnetz zones - 24, 10 euros.

A ticket to the airport stands apart. It can also be purchased for one person or for a group of up to five adults. Airport-city-day-ticket is one-day ticket and is valid on all transport zones.

The ticket starts working from the moment of purchase (the date and time are automatically stamped on the ticket) and until six in the morning of the next day.

You can buy it both at the airport terminal and at train stations. The cost per person Single-Tageskarte Gesamtnetz is 13 euros, for a group Gruppen-Tageskarte Gesamtnetz - 24.30 euros.

Other types of transport tickets

In addition, there are special tourist cards (City Tour card). They can be used to travel on public transport and receive discounts at eighty city attractions (details on the official Munich transport website).

You can buy it at train stations, at the airport, at self-service machines at the central railway station of the city by pressing the Kombitickets button, at hotels and tourist offices, as well asonline at citytourcard.

If a person travels in transport with his own vehicle (bike), then he additionally needs to buy a Fahrrad Tageskarte ticket, it costs about three euros.

For those who come for a week or longer, it makes sense to buy the appropriate travel cards.

So, for 7 days (Isar card Woche) it can cost from 14 euros to 60 euros, it all depends on the chosen tariff zones. Its action begins on Monday at noon (12:00) and ends also on Monday at the same time. Monthly prices vary from 50 to 220 euros.

Bavaria ticket

Very interesting ticket called "Bavarian". Its action extends throughout Bavaria, and it can also be used to get to Salzburg and back.

But keep in mind that such a ticket works exclusively on RE and RB regional trains, it will not work for high-speed trains. Moreover, it is used in the Munich metro and trains.

It usually starts from 25 euros. For each subsequent person, another six euros are attributed. In total, up to five people can travel on a ticket, in which case the cost will be fifty euros.

The Bavarian ticket is valid from 9:00 am to 3:00 am on weekdays, and on weekends from 00:00 am to 3:00 am the next day. There is also a special Bavarian night ticket, valid from 18:00 to 06:00.

Rules for purchasing a ticket from a vending machine

Purchasing all of the above tickets in Munich is very easy. You just need to find a special terminal. Moreover, many have the Russian language built in. To begin with, the passenger must decide on the interface language that is convenient for him, and then select the type of ticket required, as well as the coverage area. Next, the number of purchased tickets and the payment option are noted - in cash or by bank card.